1 Introduction

In this report, some summaries of Referral to Treatment Time (RTT) are presented. The summaries are based on the Referral to Treatment Time Index (RTTI).

Please, refer to the documentation of RTTI for definitions, examples and other details.

This report is based on RTT data from the NHS website, which includes data up to May, 2025.


Acronyms used:

  • DTA: Decision To Admit
  • RTT: Referral to Treatment Time
  • RTTI: Referral to Treatment Time Index
  • IH: Independent Health

2 Fixed time summaries

This section presents summaries of waiting times on May, 2025.

2.1 The distribution of RTTI on May, 2025.

2.1.1 NHS providers

The boxplots show RTTI for each medical specialties (or treatment functions) in May, 2025 and each pathway.

Subsections for each pathway are presented as tabs below.

2.1.1.1 Incomplete DTA


Figure 2.1: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Incomplete pathways with DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.


Table 2.1: NHS Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with all peers, within a medical specialty. Incomplete pathways with a DTA. May, 2025.



2.1.1.2 Incomplete


Figure 2.2: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Incomplete pathways in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.


Table 2.2: NHS Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with all peers, within a medical specialty. Incomplete pathways. May, 2025.



2.1.1.3 Completed DTA


Figure 2.3: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Completed pathways with DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.3: NHS Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with all peers, within a medical specialty. Completed pathways with a DTA. May, 2025.



2.1.1.4 Completed No DTA


Figure 2.4: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Complete pathways with no DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.4: NHS Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with all peers, within a medical specialty. Completed pathways with no DTA. May, 2025.



2.1.2 IH providers

The boxplots show RTTI for each medical specialties (or treatment functions) in May, 2025 and each pathway.

Subsections for each pathway are presented as tabs below.

2.1.2.1 Incomplete DTA


Figure 2.5: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Incomplete pathways with DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a IH provider.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.5: IH Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with all peers, within a medical specialty. Incomplete pathways with a DTA. May, 2025.



2.1.2.2 Incomplete


Figure 2.6: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Incomplete pathways in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.6: IH Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with all peers, within a medical specialty. Incomplete pathways. May, 2025.



2.1.2.3 Completed DTA


Figure 2.7: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Completed pathways with DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a IH provider.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.7: IH Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with all peers, within a medical specialty. Completed pathways with a DTA. May, 2025.



2.1.2.4 Completed No DTA


Figure 2.8: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Complete pathways with no DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a IH provider.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.8: IH Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with all peers, within a medical specialty. Completed pathways with no DTA. May, 2025.



2.2 Ranking of medical specialties by RTTI

The following table contains medical specialties ranked by the national level RTTI on May, 2025. This is for NHS providers. The higher the rank the higher the RTTI. The number in brackets is the RTTI.

As can be seen RTTI where there is a DTA is higher. Also, Elderly Medicine, Rheumatology and Mental Health have the lowest waiting times (RTTI <1), at least in May, 2025.

On the other hand, Gynaecology, Trauma & Orthopaedics, Oral Surgery and Ear Nose and Throat are among the medical specialties where waiting times are the longest.

Table 2.9: Ranking of medical specialties by RTTI, for each pathway type. National level, NHS providers only. The higher the rank, the higher the RTTI. May, 2025.


Alternatively, the information in the table can be displayed as follows. Hover with the mouse over an individual bar to highlight the medical specialty in each of the four pathways.

Figure 2.9: Ranking of medical specialties May, 2025


And for comparison with IH. IH in pink, NHS in dark magenta.

Generally, the RTTI is lower for IH providers. An exception is patients on the waiting list for an IH provider, with a DTA, (IH, Incomplete DTA) in the specialties Cardiology and Rheumatology, where waiting times are much longer than at NHS providers. For the specialties of General Internal medicine and Neurology, waiting times (IH, Incomplete DTA) are also larger than at NHS providers.

Figure 2.10: Ranking of medical specialties, by pathway, NHS and IH, May, 2025


2.3 RTTI by provider and medical specialty

Click on the white filter boxes, below the column names, to choose a region, provider or medical specialty.

Empty cells represent a missing value (no information about the provider for the medical specialty).


Table 2.10: RTTI by provider and medical specialty, for each pathway type. NHS providers only.May, 2025.


2.4 Ranked RTTI of medical specialties by provider

Low rank corresponds to low RTTI.

The table can be filtered. Click on the white boxes below the column names.


Table 2.11: RTTI by provider and medical specialty, with rank, for each pathway type. NHS providers only.May, 2025.